“RMT will now work to ensure that the Rail North Committee fully engage, both on Carlisle and outsourcing in general, and we’ll continue to press the case for insourcing.”
RMT members gathered outside the Queen’s Hotel in Leeds this morning to raise awareness of the plight of outsourced workers among members of the Board of Transport for the North.
Members of the Board, which brings together political and transport leaders from across the North, were lobbied by the RMT using the example of members at Carlisle Support Services, contracted to staff stations for Northern Trains.
These workers have been in a bitter dispute over pay, which has resulted in the bullying and intimidation of striking members, with both Northern and Carlisle passing the buck and attempting to blame each other while outsourced rail workers suffer. An Early Day Motion in Parliament, tabled by a long-time supporter of the Carlisle members, Rebecca Long Bailey, is gathering support in the Commons.
At this morning’s protest, members were joined by local MP and RMT Parliamentary Group member Richard Burgon, and the protestors also spoke to Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram on his way in, who promised to raise the issue with the Board.
Mayor Rotheram then proceeded to pick up the issue in the meeting, pointing to the ‘myriad of fragmented organisations’ that resulted from outsourcing, noting that the whole point of Great British Railways is to create more integration – including of workforces – and urging the Rail North Committee to raise insourcing with both Northern and Transpennine Trains. The Deputy Chief Executive for TfN promised to pick this up with the Rail North Committee. You can watch the exchange 4 minutes and 11 seconds into the meeting here.
RMT will now work to ensure that the Rail North Committee fully engage, both on Carlisle and outsourcing in general, and we’ll continue to press the case for insourcing at every level of Great British Railways as it comes together.
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- This statement was originally posted by the RMT on 16 March 2026.
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